Sword Roaring in the Sky

Chapter 285 National Affairs in Dire Straits, Various Obstacles

When Sun Yanwan arrived outside Black Dragon City, she saw the sprawling camp.

Wenxi gathered troops from all directions, and in addition to leading a large army himself to head straight for Bazhou, he also sent a separate force to attack Black Dragon City.

Sun Yan arrived late, which was considered fast, but this army arrived even earlier and had already fought several battles with Black Dragon City, but had not gained any advantage.

Sun Yanwan had long since changed out of King Harsha's attire and into a standard scholar's robe from the Great Lang region. He ordered his men to wait nearby and used his lightness skill to bypass the military camp and return to Black Dragon City.

Shi Si, Lu Shuangfeng, Wu Zhi, and Qin Cheng are all in the city. Sun Lingdie now has the full support of the Tianji Sun family and is in charge of the Tianma Gang. Nanmeng Palace also has the full support of the Nanmeng family and controls the Black Dragon City's fleet. Neither of them are in Black Dragon City.

Although Black Dragon City has been through many battles over the years and its people have been trained, there are still some discordant voices when facing the army of Da Lang.

Black Dragon City is different from the cities captured by the Xuanhuang Army. The main force of the Xuanhuang Army is the Demonic Sect Army, and the cities they captured have nothing to do with Da Lang. However, Black Dragon City and several other cities are nominally Da Lang's territory, but they were only granted to Sun Yanwan and others.

This Da Lang army did not attack Hei Jiao City without reason; rather, they claimed they wanted to invade Northern Yan and needed to pass through Hei Jiao City.

From any perspective, it would be perfectly reasonable for the Da Lang army to pass through the city of Da Lang. However, both Shi Si and Lu Shuangfeng, as well as Wu Zhi, knew that this Da Lang army was not merely passing through. They feared that once they entered the city, they would no longer have the final say.

Qin Cheng was, after all, a military general of Da Lang. He only joined Sun Yanwan because he had no means of support, not because he wanted to betray Da Lang. There were quite a few people in Black Dragon City like Qin Cheng who did not want to fight against Da Lang, such as the wandering knights of Luojing. They were legitimate Da Lang people, and many of them had relatives and friends in Luojing.

After returning to Black Dragon City and learning about the situation, Sun Yanwan's first action was to send all those who did not want to fight to Golden Sable City.

Golden Sable City is located within the territory of Northern Yan, unlike Black Dragon City which lies at the border between the two. Once you go to Golden Sable City, you will naturally no longer have this kind of trouble.

Although these people were loyal to Da Lang, they were still very trustworthy. Their arrival in Jin Diao City would actually help Sun Yanwan control this city that originally belonged to Bei Yan.

At the same time, Sun Yanwan also incorporated the Northern Yan people who had been brought over from Jin Diao City, Bazhou City, and other cities he had captured into his army. These Northern Yan people had no psychological burden in fighting against Da Lang, and they had no possibility of surrendering to Da Lang.

The army outside Black Dragon City attacked several times, but finding it difficult to conquer, they ceased their attacks and waited for Grand Tutor Wenxi to arrive, thus giving Sun Yanwan precious time to clear out Black Dragon City.

As Qin Cheng and a large number of Luojing wandering knights left Black Dragon City one after another for Golden Sable City, the discordant voices within Black Dragon City gradually disappeared, and Sun Yanwan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

More than ten days later, Wenxi's army finally arrived at the foot of Black Dragon City.

To Sun Yanwan's surprise, the army that Wenxi brought was nearly half its original size, and its morale was not as high as it had been under the walls of Bazhou.

Upon arriving in Black Dragon City, Wenxi immediately sent a letter requesting passage through the city.

Sun Yanwan also replied in the name of Shi Si, stating that he himself "should still be in seclusion on Songyang Mountain" and should not appear in public. He explained that the army's passage was too disruptive to the people and hoped that Wenxi would allow the army to enter the city in stages, with a hundred riders passing by slowly.

Well, if Wenxi really dares to divide his army into teams of a hundred cavalry, Sun Yanwan will not hesitate to accept them all.

Upon receiving the reply, Wenxi was furious but laughed in response. He wrote a document rebuking the city, stating that Black Dragon City was disregarding national affairs and attempting to rebel against the court. Sun Yanwan also replied, requesting an official document from the Ministry of War.

Wenxi mobilized a large army privately by virtue of his reputation as Grand Tutor of the State; where would he get any documents from the Ministry of War?
If Da Lang were to formally send troops, it would have to be discussed in the imperial court and go through various procedures, which would take at least several months, and possibly more than half a year. Moreover, there was no guarantee that the proposal to send troops would be approved.

Although Sun Yanwan hadn't spent much time in the Da Lang court, she still understood the ins and outs of these matters.

The two sides exchanged documents and engaged in lively verbal battles. Sun Yanwan originally thought that after the verbal exchanges, the military confrontation would begin, but he did not expect that during the period of correspondence between the two sides, Wenxi's army had lost more than 10,000 men.

Sun Yanwan felt much more at ease and tried every means to delay the inevitable.

Half a month later, the army outside Black Dragon City had dwindled to less than 20,000 men.

Grand Tutor Wenxi, in the military camp, sighed deeply and said to his eldest son, Wen Zhuzhong, "The affairs of the state are difficult, and there are many obstacles. What can we do?"

Wen Zhuzhong was also speechless. His father's reckless troop mobilization was already quite taboo.

These troops were forcibly brought here by Grand Tutor Wen, but as time passed, the court began to react, issuing several orders for the troops to return to their original posts. How could these troops dare to disobey? Even Wenxi could not withstand the pressure and had no choice but to let the troops leave.

Without sufficient troops, Wenxi dared not attack Black Dragon City. None of the documents he received indicated any connection between this top scholar from Dalang and Su Nanqiao, who came from the Demonic Sect.

If the matter could be settled in one battle, Wenxi would not be afraid to take Black Dragon City. As long as he could take Black Dragon City, he would naturally have various means to deny it. However, if he failed to take Black Dragon City and forced Sun Yanwan, who originally had no intention of rebelling, to rebel, the consequences would be too great.

After all, Sun Yanwan was a future leader in the literary world. Because of his "memorial to the emperor in the morning, and his demotion to Chaozhou in the evening," he managed to change the emperor's mind and bring Han Shi back to court. He was very popular among the upright officials in the court. Moreover, he came from the Songyang Sect and was considered a martial arts figure. His fiancée was from Shaochan Temple. With two major martial arts holy sites behind him, he could be easily shaken and would also stir up the thoughts of martial arts figures.

Although Wenxi knew perfectly well that capturing Black Dragon City would be entirely beneficial to Da Lang, he still had too many concerns.

They could only send more than ten documents, threatening the general guarding Black Dragon City that they would report to the Emperor. Sun Yanwan responded in the name of Shi Si, and he would definitely write a letter to Songyang Mountain. After Sun Yanwan left the pass, they would go to Luojing to file a lawsuit. The two sides argued for several days, and Wenxi withdrew his troops in disappointment.

During this period, engaging in a battle of wits and courage with Grand Tutor Wenxi, exchanging documents and making decisions, was far more exhausting than a fierce battle or a martial arts contest.

Sun Yanwan tried her best to please Shi Si, hoping to gain her aunt's approval.

After several days, Sun Yanwan gradually regained her spirits.

He finally returned to Black Dragon City, so naturally he had to deal with all sorts of government affairs. The business of the Tianma Caravan was growing bigger and bigger, especially after it annexed the Red Lotus Society and received support from the Sun family of Tianji. There were Tianma Caravan warehouses in all nineteen routes of the Great Lang Kingdom. From Northern Yan to Southern Xia, the caravans came and went in an endless stream, transporting goods from the three kingdoms.

Sun Lingdie is now the leader of the Tianma Gang, and her business skills have become increasingly sophisticated.

As for the fleet, under Namco's control, it has already reached almost all the coastal cities of Da Lang and Bei Yan, and has even established trade relations with overseas island nations.

(End of this chapter)